Anna snorted. “I don’t think it’s the lack of a guy, Lila. It’s the lack of vision in the music industry itself. We need a better way in. We need to find a way to go right to the source.”
Now it was my turn to snort. “Like it would ever be that easy. No problem. Just wake up one day to a sign in the sky that reads ‘The Source Is This Way. Follow the Arrow, Girls.’”
Anna actually laughed at that, which was a real victory as the girl wasn’t known for laughing. “I mean if you have God on speed dial and can order a sign like that…”
“But would he actually come through?” I wondered. “Because the last time I ordered something from God he was a little bit cagey on the follow-up.”
I felt her amused glance. “When was the last time you ordered something from God? And if you have a direct line to him, why the hell have you been keeping it a secret?”
I shrugged. “I ordered a bike from him once. Took three years to get it, though, so I didn’t try again. I’m an immediate gratification sort of girl.”
“Maybe it’s time you try again. Because I’m running out of ideas.”
That was also unlike Anna, who had known exactly who she was and what she was doing for as long as I’d known her—which had been forever. We’d grown up in the same neighborhood in Nashville and had been best friends since we could walk. Before that, if you believed the stories our mothers told.
I didn’t know if I did.
I also didn’t know if I had any faith in some guy in the sky granting wishes.
But Anna and I had been trying to land a contract for years now, and she was right about running out of ideas. We’d auditioned for every agent and talent scout in the city—hundreds of people, at least—and had had zero luck.
If we wanted that contract, we were going to have to try something bigger than just auditioning.
Making a wish into the sky… didn’t seem like the worst thing. I mean, it wasn’t exactly going to hurt, right?
“Right, okay. Whoever’s up there and in control, I’m officially wishing for a sign that tells us exactly how to get to the source. Or a contract since that’s what we’re actually going for here.”
I bit my lip and paused, not knowing what to expect. What happened when you made a wish like that? Lightning? Thunder? Was the ground going to open up and swallow me for the sheer audacity of making fun of the process?
Instead,nothinghappened.
“As I said,” I told her, casting a glance at my best friend. “Cagey with the follow-up.”
“Well, maybe it takes a second,” she replied, leaning forward and turning the radio on.
“Boy, kids, do I have news for you,” the DJ said immediately. “And you’re not going to want to miss this. In fact, I’m betting you’re going to wish you were able to rewind it and hear it again. That’s how big this is! And the announcement is exclusive to this show right here, because I’ve heard it right from the horse’s mouth. Or from Parker Pelton’s, which is the same thing. Not that she’s a horse, but you know what I mean. The point is, if you don’t know Parker, she’s the manager to country western’s darlings, Avery Dawson and Olivia Johns, plus Connor Wheating, if the rumors are true. And if you don’t know who they are, I don’t know what world you’ve been living in.”
“Not the real world,” Anna breathed. “Get to the point, buddy.”
“The point, then,” the jock—David Hamm, I remembered—went on. “The point is, Avery’s little label is the new home for Olivia and Connor, and it turns out they’re going on tour. Starting next week. They’re taking Global Authors and The Leathers with them, from Nashville to Missouri and back. But here’s the kicker. They’re inviting people to follow them the way fans followed them on their first tour. And there’s more.They’re looking for a new act for Avery’s label. And they’re doing auditions on the road.”
I didn’t even hear the rest of what he said. I was too busy jerking the wheel to the side and turning to stare at Anna, my mouth open and my mind screaming through the possibilities. Avery Dawson’s label. Olivia Johns and Connor Wheating. Global Writers. The Leathers.
An invitation to come on tour.
A guaranteed audition.
With a contract as the reward.
“Think we’d have a shot?” I whispered.
Anna, who was wearing the same expression I could feel on my own face, shrugged. “Maybe?”
“Think it’s worth trying?”
“I don’t know. Do you?”
A grin stretched itself across my face, so broad that it hurt my cheeks. “Are you kidding? Olivia and Connor? On tour? With Global Writers? Rivers Shine, Anna.”
